


Misunderstandings

by RobotCryBaby



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Asexual Whirl, Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:20:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24431218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobotCryBaby/pseuds/RobotCryBaby
Summary: It's very short but I wrote this as a little comfort piece for myself. I plan on wrapping it up but I'm stuck.
Relationships: Cyclonus/Tailgate (Transformers), Cyclonus/Tailgate/Whirl (Transformers)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 72





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's very short but I wrote this as a little comfort piece for myself. I plan on wrapping it up but I'm stuck.

They were all hunkered down in Tailgate and Cyclonus’ shared habsuite ready to start watching a movie Tailgate had borrowed from Rewind for the evening. Cyclonus had been busy putting together some snacks when Tailgate had asked the question. 

“We were wondering if you would join us?”  _ Such a simple request. _

“You want me to crash your date at whatever fancy restaurant Cyclonus has picked.”  _ Why would they even think to include him? Wasn’t it weird to invite your friend on a special romantic date with your Conjux? _

“No, I believe Tailgate was asking you to join us. Officially.” 

“Pffft, that’s stupid. Sounds like you’re askin  _ me _ on a date.” Whirl scoffed.

“That was sort of the intention…” Tailgate looked up at him, his visor filled with hope.

Whirl’s spark took a nosedive.  _ Frag. He had to say no, to push them away.  _ It was a miracle he was ever able to become friends with the two _.  _ It was never a part of his plan, when he had set out to finally get the two oblivious lovebirds to admit their love to each other. It had never been his intention for him to fall for them too.

But they were meant for each other, he had no place in that equation.

“Ha.” Whirl said dryly. “Look, I’ve had six glasses of high grade so I’m in a pretty good mood. I’m willin to forget you said anything that stupid and we never have to talk about it again. Kay?”

“So, you do not wish to join us then?” Cyclonus asked with a sullen expression. Tailgate seemed frozen in place, his field leaking devastation.

Whirl wanted nothing more than to quell Cyclonus’ worries, to help sooth his tense field. He wanted to console Tailgate and make him smile again. But they had no idea what they were asking for. 

  
  


Cyclonus had placed a gentle hand on Whirl’s shoulder. He hadn’t even realized he had started shaking. Whirl was panicking.

He could deal with pining for them from afar. He could deal with always suffocating the slurry of emotions he felt when in their presence. He never once thought that his affections would or could ever be returned. Now that he knew they were, he almost preferred the silent longing. 

  
  


_ How could he explain to them that he could never give them what they wanted. That along with his myriad of issues and cons that came to being Whirl, he was also less than interested in ever interfacing with another mech. _

  
  


“I think maybe you both need to go see Ratchet, cause something is wrong with both of ya.” Whirl answered flippantly.

Cyclonus stood his ground. “You did not answer my question.” Whirl was frozen. With Cyclonus’ hand on his shoulder and Tailgate looking up at him earnestly, suddenly everything was too much.

“Whirl,” Tailgate started slowly, “we both really like you and care about you a lot. You know that, right?”

Whirl sprang to his pedes and threw Cyclonus’ hand off of him, retreating into the corner of the room. “I don’t do relationships.”

Tailgate deflated sadly, taking a small step back. Cyclonus narrowed his eyes at the stressed rotary, not convinced that he was telling the full truth.

“That is fine, Whirl. But you still have not answered my question. Would you want to join us?”

Whirl was venting heavily.  _ Just say no. Simple. No. You say no all the time. Just say you don’t want to be with either of them and then you can move on. _ No matter how hard he tried to convince himself, he couldn’t find the willpower to voice his objections.

Tailgate’s head snapped in Cyclonus’ direction, no doubt the two were having a private chat over comms. With newfound resolve, Tailgate turned and reached slowly to Whirl, calmly stretching his field out to him.

Whirl shrank back slightly. “Don’t.” He paused. “We got a good thing goin, don’t let me ruin it.”

“You’re not going to ruin anything.” Tailgate tried to console him, but Whirl just violently shook his helm.

He looked between the two of them, neither would back down without some answers. There was no getting around it. He’d have to tell them.

“I told you, I don’t do relationships.” Whirl took a steadying in-vent. “I’ve...never done relationships.” He averted his optic, cringing, waiting for the laughter.  _ 4 million years and you’ve never kissed? 4 million years and you’ve never found anyone to date? I get the empurata thing, but you never even tried anything before that slag? _ The comments of bots past rang through his processor.

“Oh.” Whirl nearly recoiled at Tailgate’s voice. “Well, that’s okay. I mean, I hadn’t really been in anything serious till I met Cyclonus either. And we can go at whatever pace you’re comfortabl with!” Tailgate cheerily explained, hoping to ease some of Whirl’s tension, but only managed to do the opposite.

“Exactly, ya’ll are serious! You don’t want me coming in and wrecking everything!” Whirl was starting to get defensive. He’d do anything to avoid telling them the truth, but as the confrontation went on, the more unlikely that seemed.

“You wouldn’t be  _ wrecking _ anything. We’ve talked a lot about this, you know. We are happy together, but we feel more complete when you’re here too.” Cyclonus tried to sooth the increasingly stressed rotary.

Whirl’s processor was scrambling for excuses.  _ How could they just say something like that? Willingly open their lives and their affections to someone like Whirl. _ Whirl knew that there’d be no way to convince them that adding him into their little relationship would inevitably burn, other than finally voicing the one thing he didn’t want to. The one thing he’d only disclosed to one other bot in all his years.

Whirl straightened his posture and took a steadying vent. “I don’t...you know...do ‘facing and stuff.” He internally cringed, waiting for the ball to drop.

“Well, we would never do anything you’re not comfortable with! Of course we’d wait to do anything like that until you were ready.” Tailgate took a tentative step towards him.

“No.” Whirl stared him directly in the optics, a sad fury filling his field, startling the pair of bots in front of him. “You don’t get it. I don’t do relationships! I don’t ‘face! I’ve never even kissed anyone! Not like I’d even be able to now with my ugly mug!” Whirl was shaking, caught between rage and soul-crushing rejection. “I’ll never be ready. Get it?! So do yourselves a favour and stick to yourselves!”

Cyclonus and Tailgate stood in silence, staring at the fuming rotary in their hab. A painful silence filled the room. Whirl needed out.  _ Now. _

“Whirl-” Cyclonus reached towards him, but Whirl was too fast. He quickly brushed the outstretched servo and bolted out of the suffocating habsuite, pointedly ignoring the two calling his name.


	2. Chapter 2

Whirl knew he was fucked. He knew it every time he heard the melodious sounds of Tailgate’s laugh. He knew it when he saw Cyclonus meditating after one of their sparring sessions. He especially knew it when he saw both of them, huddled over a shared glass of engex at Swerve’s in a quiet corner of the bar.

Whirl, in his past life, had quickly found out that 99% of mechs would never be interested in him. And he often found this out the hard way. It was weird, because eventually some aspects of the whole empurata ordeal started to seem like a blessing. Now, with his ugly no-face, killer claws and overall psychotic demeanour, he wouldn’t have to worry about explaining himself in a relationship; cause he’d never have one.

Sure, there are some sick bots out there that are all about the weird empurata fetish, but it was easy for Whirl to tell those mechs to fuck off.

And even when he started getting better, working on himself, building a sort of friendship with certain bots, he knew he’d always have his failsafe.  _ I don’t do relationships.  _ Or  _ You think I could frag anyone with these shit claws? _ You know, the staple excuses. 

He was also fortunate to never have met any bots that really even registered to Whirl as potential friends, let alone partners. Now there were two. And they were dating each other. Which if he was honest, good for them. After everything they went through ( _ and all the fragging coaxing Whirl did for the blind idiots _ ), he was happy for the two of them. And, Primus, he was lucky they even tolerated his presence and called him  _ friend _ .

Whirl recalled a memory, as he walked the familiar path to Swerve’s. He had been fuming and upset, just like he was now, though for different reasons.

_ He knew his place. But he also knew that with every casual touch, every invite to hang out, every soft or encouraging smile, Whirl fell for them more and more. He needed the squash this feeling before it got out of hand and Whirl, inevitably, did something stupid or the two lovebirds found out. _

_ Each time Tailgate leaned into him when they shared a booth at Swerve’s, Whirl made sure to scoot just a little farther away, watching for Cyclonus’ reaction. _

_ So as not to seem suspicious, every time the three of them hung out, Whirl made sure to keep just out of reach. No chance for a friendly pat or even an accidental brush of a shoulder. Whirl had gone millions of years without any sort of physical intimacy before he had gotten close to Cycs and Tailgate, he could go back to that. That’s how it should’ve stayed anyway, he tried to convince himself. So this is where Whirl found himself, perched awkwardly on a chair purposefully placed awkwardly at the corner of the table the three of them shared at Swerve’s. _

_ “So, heard Rewind and you have been slacking on your surveillance duties, Legs.” Whirl teased the minibot lightly. _

_ Tailgate’s visor flushed bright in embarrassment. “We’re not slacking! We’re still watching the security systems, it’s just been so quiet can you blame us for trying to pass the time? Rewind has tons of old movies that I wanted to catch up on.” Tailgate huffed and scowled playfully at Whirl who chuckled in response. _

_ The two continued to bicker lightly back and forth, Cyclonus watching the two with a fond expression. _

_ Whirl noticed Cyclonus watching the two, instantly becoming uncomfortable. It’s not the first time Whirl had caught the ex-Decepticon staring at his soon-to-be Conjux. And each time it caused a swell of conflicting emotions to swell inside his spark. He was glad, Cyclonus deserved to be happy and Whirl was happy that Tailgate could provide that for him; and vice versa. But each time the selfish desire he desperately tried to suffocate always resurfaced. He hated these feelings. He had lived so long as a mech who didn’t get these mushy emotions that it still felt weird to him. But even if that hadn’t been the case, even before he went off the deep-end, he knew that feelings like these would never be reciprocated; not entirely at least. It would always lead to everything falling apart. That fond expression could never, and should never, be for him. _

_ Whirl reset his vocalizer, trying to shake himself from his thoughts and stood suddenly. “Imma go grab another drink, ya want anything?” _

_ Cyclonus looked at him in confusion and Tailgate spoke up. “Why don’t you just get the server bot to bring it over?” _

_ “Uh, nah, need to...stretch my legs a bit. Walk around, ya know.” Whirl quickly excused himself, only glancing back at the pair once he reached the bar and was certain they weren’t still watching him. _

_ Whirl could see both Cyclonus and Tailgate leaning towards each other, no doubt talking over the comms about something. It looked intense, based on the strained and worried expression on Tailgate’s visor. Whirl took a steadying vent. He needed to snap out of it. _

_ Why can’t you get it in your idiot processor that they could never like you. They have each other. You have yourself, that’s all you’ll ever have. Get over yourself. _

He shook himself from his memory and knocked a clawed servo roughly against his helm. Stupid lovebirds wanting to be in a relationship with him. Stupid Whirl for tricking them into actually liking him. Stupid Whirl for even being upset in the first place.

He stopped abruptly in front of Swerve’s, lost in his own processor. His comms pinging incessantly, no doubt from the two bots he definitely didn’t just run away from. Whirl doesn’t run away...he just, sometimes takes his time or has more important things to do.

Whirl sighed heavily and turned away from the bar. Being in a crowd would only make him more agitated than he already was, and he was genuinely trying to get better. So he would retreat to his habsuite, maybe over-indulge in some of the hidden high grade he kept on hand, then pass out into sweet oblivion and forget about everything for a while.

_________

His habsuite was silent, which would only prove disastrous for the many thoughts bouncing around in his head.

Whirl was tired. He was tired of being so broken and pissed off and everything else; he was tired of being tired.

There was a time when he revelled in being so thoroughly exhausted, an aching despair and emptiness that filled his frame and made everything make sense. Everything made sense back then because, to him, nothing mattered. Now though, he did care about some things, though he was loath to admit to such. He wasn’t stupid, he knew that  _ he, himself _ , didn’t matter but other things did, which just made everything so much more complicated and confusing.

Whirl knew he fucked up the good thing that he, Cyclonus and Tailgate had going. Sure, they were nice enough that they’d probably still want to hang out potentially, but there was no doubt in his processor that they would view him differently. _Pity._ _They would definitely pity him._

If the lurch and Legs were smart, they’d cut all ties with Whirl right now.  _ Should’ve done that a long time ago though. _ The door to his habsuite pinged.

Whirl looked at the door as if it had personally insulted him.  _ Frag. _ He had half a mind to ignore the person on the other end. Or persons, more likely. But Whirl wouldn’t be able to hide away from the two forever, and he might as well get the rejection and taunts over with now while he was already feeling terrible.

He sighed and stood, opening the door to reveal a very worried Tailgate and a scowling Cyclonus. Whirl said nothing, just remained in the doorway, blocking their entrance, staring down Cyclonus while Tailgate frantically looked between the two of them.

“May we come in?” 

“Why?” Cyclonus frowned at Whirl’s response.

“We wish to speak with you and it would be more appropriate to do so privately.” Cyclonus shifted on his peds. Whirl continued to stare, daring Cyclonus to back down, which he didn’t.

“Fine.” He stepped aside and let the two inside his hab. He stepped over to the desk in the corner and leaned against the wall as the two bots stood awkwardly in the centre of the room.

Tailgate took a small step forward, arm outstretched like he wanted to comfort the rotary. “Whirl, we-”

“Look, I’m a big mech. You don’t gotta spare my feelin’s or nothin. Just tell me to frag off then you guys can go.”

Tailgate instantly began to panic. “What? No, that’s not it at all! We just want to talk, Whirlibird! I want to understand what’s going on in that head of yours.”

Whirl shrugged. “Look, you guys invited me into some weird hook-up thingy, I said I don’t do ‘facing or relationships cause I’m fucked up in the head, not really difficult to understand.”

Cyclonus crossed his arms and his frown deepened. “You are intentionally skewing the events in order to fit into your self-destructive narrative.” He took a step towards Whirl, though still maintaining a slight distance. “We had asked if you wanted to join our relationship. As real partners, not as berth-mates.”   
  
“What’s the difference.” Whirl shrugged, pointedly staring into an empty corner of the room.

“W-what’s the difference?! Whirl,” Tailgate bounced over the Whirl and gently took hold of his claws in his smaller servos, “we both love you. We want to be with you because we love being around you! We thought that perhaps you felt the same way, but if you don’t, that’s totally okay! We understand and we don’t want anything to change between us, we can still be friends!”

Whirl looked into Tailgate’s watery visor, his field leaked affection and care. He sighed. “That’s not the issue, Legs.”

Tailgate cocked his helm to the side, silently asking Whirl to continue.  _ No getting out of it now. _ Whirl shook Tailgate’s servo off him gently and sat on the berth, optic pointed to the floor.

“My feelin’s are irrelevant, Legs. I...I don’t do relationships. I don’t do interface. And that’s what relationships are, ya know. It don’t matter what I want, cause it won’t work.”

Cyclonus studied the rotary for a moment before speaking. “Says who?”

“Huh?”

“Who says that it won’t work? And who said that a relationship needs to involve interfacing?” Cyclonus scowled slightly, ready to make a mental list of anyone who told Whirl these terrible things.

“Uh, everyone?” Whirl stood and looked at the two mechs. 

Tailgate snapped his head to look at Cyclonus.  _ Again with the secret comm conversations! _ Whirl huffed impatiently.

“Whirl.” Tailgate began slowly. “A relationship can be whatever you want it to be. Interface or not, that doesn’t change the fact that I love you and want to be with you, in whatever way you’re willing to share.” He looked up at Whirl earnestly.

Whirl sat back on his berth, thinking over Tailgate’s words. Cyclonus placed his servo gently on Whirl’s shoulder, causing the rotary to look up at him in surprise.

“Before we continue, I need to know what your feelings are.” Whirl remained silent, staring into his optics. “Please.”

Whirl paused, processor completely frozen on what to do. Before he could even think up a plan to get out of this situation, his vocalizer betrayed him.

“Yes. I do like you...both of you.”

Tailgate was beaming, bouncing up in place and giggling as he threw his arms around Whirl’s waist. “I’m so happy, Birdy! We’ve been wanting to tell you for so long but we didn’t know how you’d take it.” Tailgate leaned back, kneeling on the berth beside Whirl. “Thank you. For being honest and open with us.”

Whirl was hit with a wave of happiness from Tailgate’s field that mirrored Cyclonus’ own. Slowly, Whirl let his field extend to mingle with the presence of his two friends, his two  _ partners _ , and was surprised to find his field matching their warmth.

Whirl was so caught up in the relief and euphoria of the moment that he momentarily forgot the biggest problem. His field snapped back into place and he retreated back slightly.

“Wait, no. No, this still doesn’t make any sense.” Whirl would frown if he could, his processor desperately trying to sort itself out. “I just told you guys I don’t do interfacing, and don’t wanna do it in the future, and you still wanna be with me? That don’t make no fraggin sense.”

Cyclonus sighed sadly as he sat beside Whirl, effectively sandwiching the rotary between Tailgate and himself.

“Whirl. We do not need to interface to be in a romantic relationship. And frankly I would prefer that you never force yourself to try anything, especially something like interfacing, if you do not wish to.” Cyclonus placed his warm servo on Whirl’s twitching claw. “We both love you. I love you, for who you are and for what you add to our relationship. We want to be with you because of  _ you _ , nothing more, nothing less.”

Whirl sat in silence, helm hanging down as he processed Cyclonus’ words.  _ Could this really work? Am I allowed to even try this? _

“We will be with you, working and helping you. We can go slow or not at all. We just want you to be comfortable and happy.”

Whirl’s vent hitched. _Happy._ _When was the last time any bot, including himself, had wanted that for him? Too long. And he wouldn’t be alone this time._ Whirl gently squeezed his claw around Cyclonus’ servo in an attempt to hold his hand. Apparently, that’s exactly what Cyclonus had been hoping for because a soft, genuine smile spread across his faceplate. Cyclonus squeezed back, in reassurance as Tailgate leaned into Whirl’s side.

“Okay.” Whirl took a steadying vent. “Let’s try it.” He could feel the elation in Tailgate’s field bloom as he flung his arms around Whirl’s midsection.

Whirl chuckled softly, the tension slowly leaking from his frame. He glanced over at Cyclonus, his smile still stretching across his face. Cyclonus leaned towards him and he gently guided Whirl’s helm towards his own, and bowed until the tops of their helms rested against each other. Tailgate’s hold tightened as he burrowed into Whirl further.

“We got you, Birdy.” Whirl closed his optic, relishing the quiet softness of the moment.

_ Yeah. This could work. They could do this. _


End file.
